Both our goalies in AHL have outperformed Schmid. Honestly rather bring back Lazar as the 2nd piece, be more useful.

I'd do that deal. Tbh, I'd probably be willing to add something to that deal. Like maybe a 3rd or Graeme Clarke

Would you do Schmid, Nosek, 2024 1st for Ullmark, Grzelcyk 50% retained? I think that'd be more fair

I would not, who knows if Sweeney would. Or Ullmark. Everyone acts like it’s a forgone conclusion that NJ is not on his list. We don’t know. With half the league being at his disposal i’m sure there are surprises.

I’d do Ully/Grizz for 1st/Lazar/Vanacek with 1.4 retained.

I don’t want Vanacek at all but at 2m i can move him, bury him, or live with him as a backup. It alleviates 2m of cap space for NJ the next 2 years. At 3.4 he’s a problem for Boston,

Devils would rather pay to move vanacek’s salary than retain on him.

Lazar is probably off the table with all the devils injuries. I’d send a 3rd round pick to go get a different depth guy instead of Schmid tho if you like.

I personally don't agree with Boston's big TDL move being for a top4 dman. Their priority should be a top6 C, if they can't get that, then a top6 fwd.

The current dman core (-grz) is pretty good, which helps having 2 elite goalies.

If they can explore a trade involving Grz that would bring back depth, that would be nice too.

Beyond the logistics of the trade, if Ullmark were traded in-conference, which is far less of an issue than in-division, I would prefer him to Jersey than elsewhere. I have the least issues with Jersey of any Eastern conference team (I refuse to have a 2nd favorite team, just degrees of dislike being less for some teams than others lol), so it would be easiest to see him succeed with them if or when he's moved

Would you do Lysell + Merkulov + 1st for Lindholm?

Grz for Dube? thats more a shot in the dark since idk what grz value is but I want dube moved and he could be a good depth guy for bruins

I’d rather have Schmid at 835k than Vanecek at $2m. Lazar doesn’t make up that difference. I realize that Schmid is nothing more than a flyer with talent, but I also realize he played very well last year and I’d value what Essensa could do with him.

So would I.

But i’d rather have Lazar than either goalie. If taking a reduced Vanacek helps facilitate that so be it. A useful 4th liner that can chip in some O, win faceoffs, PK, hits people, cheap with term, is far more valuable to me than marginal goalies.

Not sure I’d do Lysell and a 1st for Lindholm. I’d rather offer Merk, a first, and a second for Lindholm personally.

Lazar is just as valuable to jersey as you claim (if not more so due to all the injuries)

Also taking on Vanacek with retention doesn’t do anything for us. I’d rather just pay to dump the full contract

Solving your goalie problem is far more valuable than Lazar. 😉

I can’t imagine any scenario in which holding on to a 4th liner who will never be more than that is more important than adding a true #1 goalie when you don’t have one. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Unless you think Daws is the answer. You thought Schmid was at one point, now he’s just a throw in with marginal value. Young goalies and hot streaks are not uncommon. The league tends to figure them out quickly.

If we move lazar out of the lineup today our 4th line will consist of max Willman Chris Tierney and Shane Bowers. None of those guys are NHL quality.

If/when all of Hughes, Smith, Nosek, and Palat were healthy I’d be palatable to a deal like Lazar+Vitek+1st+4th for Ullmark+Gryz.

But they aren’t right now and until they are the devils can’t afford to only have 3 even remotely viable lines.

And/Or if there was other deals in place to get a guy like Duhaime and/or Trenin at reasonable prices

I understand maybe you don’t want Schmid.

I’d do 1st+3rd or 1st+Clarke or 1st+Stillman instead.

Lazar is just a piece NJD can’t afford to move in their current state.

Maybe if a boqvist was coming back I’d be more palatable but again I don’t think the actual front office is as high in boqy as I am (or they’d have brought him back)

I’d send out Bastian if you want him more easily

I'd be really disappointed with this return on Hanifin.

I guess we evaluate Lohrei differently. I remain hopeful that the return would be similar to H. Lindholm, or at least the Orlov trade.

Still trying to figure out what you guys saw in Stillman to make him a 1st, not that B’s have done much better with their choices.

That being said. 1st/Stillman/Schmid for Ully/Grizz with some retention on Grizz…i could live with that. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I wouldn’t have picked Stillman round 1 either. I think he’ll be a useful 4th line grinder/energy guy at some point tho. Not worthy of a 1st, but he’ll have an decent enough NHL career, I’d bet on that

That’s something I’d probably be fine with. Obviously would be trying to negotiate as cheap as possible but if fitz did that I’d be happy with him

Lohrei has pretty significant athletic and offensive upside. Teams generally trade picks rather than giving up a guy who’s on an ELC and likely to be a top 4 defender as soon as next year. Reality is the only reason I consider this is Hanifin and Lindholm likely keep him as a bottom pair D until their contracts are up. IMO, he would get a better opportunity somewhere and I feel his value is pretty significant.

Orlov and Hathaway were traded together with salary retention. To me, that would be the equivalent of adding Tanev or atleast Zadarov in the same deal.

Also, remember Anaheim also retained and took on bad contracts including a multi year one to get excess pick capital in the Lindholm deal. Calgary doesn’t appear willing to do that

Last, but certainly not least. The rumors of Lindholm or Orlov having a place in mind with FA didn’t align nearly as well as Hanifin. There are GMs who believe it is inevitable that he ends up in Boston. It only takes one to not believe it, but that GM will use it as leverage in the return

I’d rather give some of our younger wings a chance vs acquiring Stillman. Hes kind of my perception of what the average return is for a late first rounder though.

Stillman should have 3 years left of waiver eigibility so if he doesn't beat out your wings you don't risk losing him.

Also I'm not sure about your prospects in terms of guys who are more grinders vs which guys are offensive 1 way etc, but Stillman plays a different game. He's a 4th line grinder through and through. VERY limited upside, but can fill that role dirt cheap imo

We have a few grinders in Providence (Farinaccii, Kuntar) and a few in college that look like they have promise who will likely ve considering the AHL next year (Jelvik, Gausseau, Duran). I don’t see Stillman as differentiated from those guys, but we probably could use another right shot in the minors

I haven't seen Lohrei as a top 4 defender just yet, and I have a hard time projecting it from 25GP. As for the ELC, that's great, but the guy is also 23 already, and hasn't yet established himself as an everyday NHLer. It also means that if he plays 70 NHL games, then he would be waiver eligible, if I'm not mistaken. He's a decent prospect, and I guess one could argue that he's a top 2 prospect in your system. I just don't like him being the main piece coming back.

Hathaway was and is a 4th liner. Comparing his value to Tanev, or even Zadorov is laughable IMO. I think it was closer to somewhere between a 4th and a 5th round pick.

As for retaining salary and taking bad contracts. That's a false narrative that the Flames aren't willing to do that. The Flames didn't want to retain on Zadorov because they have only 3 retention slots, and 3 upcoming UFAs. The other reason was that Kylington might be ready to return from LTIR soon, and we wouldn't have had the cap-space with a retention on Z.

I don't think it's inevitable that Hanifin will end up in Boston, or that he indicated any such thing. Gaudreau was supposed to end up in PHI as well, yet somehow he ended up in CBJ, Tkachuk in STL...

Zadorov was one of the more overrated trade assets and you saw it. I’d take Hathaway out of Washington over him any day of the week. I’d personally like Hathaway now for the Bruins if we could secure him.

There is always a risk, but there was also a Columbus Blue Jacket who was rumored to go to NY and did, Also, with the way Boston is playing, there isn’t the record as a consideration. I fully acknowledge anything can change, but that still doesn’t change the fact that Boston will be one of the more attractive FA destinations and they lack picks, so there is incentive for them to be patient. I’m assuming you aren’t questioning Bostons capability to secure a Hanifan caliber player in FA or are you?

Rather not give up that much for an extra couple months of Hanafin, just sign him July 1st, or move forward w Lohrei in top 4

Theres definitely a deal to be had w the devils, would much prefer no goalie coming back, but if BOS gives up Ullmark and Griz (and maybe even take on Vanecek), they should get solid compensation, not just a 1st